Grille-guarded radiator shell front



Mar'ch 26, 1935. L. B. GREEN GRILLE GUARDED RADIATOR SHELL FRONT 2 Sfieets-Sheet 1 Filed June 29,' 1954 March 26, 1935.

L. B. GREEN GRILILE GUARDED RADIATOR SHELL FRONT Filed June 29, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 five/7190 Lee G O Patented Mar. I 26, 1935 l um-ED STATES FATE My invention relates to a guard of the general class in which parallel guard bars effectively span j an opening -in'a member which supports them.

When used on the radiator shell fronts of en- -5 zine-driven trucks, such guards have commonly been composed of solid steel bars spanning a steel frame-which in turn is bolted to the front of the a Thus constructed, the amount of metal-requiredfor both the guard bars and the frame, together with the'manufacturing'of the frame andrigidlyconnecting the bars to it, involve an undesirable high cost. Moreover, the generally rectangular lines of such a guard do not harmonize with the general design of the radiator shell on which this guard is mounted, and particularly not when the radiator shell and hood have the curvedlines now generally found on the entire exterior portions of the more artistically designed auto trucks.

However,'the just recited practice of disposing the barsof the guard forwardly of the front. of theradiator shell affords the advantage that these, bars more adequately prevent objects in front of the truck from damagingwhat is behind the radiator-shell front; also,.that the guard bars maybeof' considerably greater length than the spread of the said opening longitudinally of the said bars,.thereby guarding against an indenting of the part of the shell front which borders its radiator shell.

air-admitting opening.

For modern passenger automobiles, the guard for the frontal opening of the radiator shell usually is a 'socalled grille consisting of cross-connected bars (or 'rearwardly "open" U-sectioned blades), which bars or blades present their ends behind the shell front. Thus disposed, the guard bars or blades do not adequately protect the portions of the shell front adjacent to the said frontal opening against impact, and their said disposition emphasizes the shape of the, frontal opening, which shape may not harmonize with the general design of the car frontfwhen this opening is formed for distributing air effectively to the entire radiator core behind the shell front. g

Moreover,if the'design of the car jfront 'is such that thefrontal opening is of considerably less height-than the shell front, an unduly large upper portion of this car front may not be influenced by the appearance ofa grille to a'sufiicien t extent to afford the desired ornamental appearance. In addition,"the use of "many scores of blades in such a grille makes them; present sucha thin lined effect as tobe out of harmony with the use a of broad panel effects often desiredin the general design of the car.

1,99 ,045; a I, GRILLE-GUARDED RADIATOR SHELL r e FRONT Globe Machine & StampingCo'mpanmOlemland, Ohio, at corporationof Ohio Application June 29, 1934, Serial N 733,1 9 Claims. (01. 293-.-54

cent' parts of; the car splashed on it.

invention.

line2-2 of Fig. 1. I

the guard members.

Fig. 4 isa rear elevation tened.

guard member of Fig. 5.

shape shown in Fig. '7,

Still furtherandalso more detailedobjects will appearjfrom the following specification andfrom the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l-is aperspective viewof afrontalpanel portion of an automobile radiator, housing in whichthe air-admitting-opening and parts adjacent thereto are guarded in accordance with my e.Fig. 2 is an enlarged sect1on taken alc n'g the t Fig. 3 isan enlarged front was v I :QF'YF i 5 My present invention aims to overcomethe'just recited disadvantages of an interiorly mounted grille or guard, while also avoiding the high cost of forging solid barsand vthe'unornam'enta-l ap' pearance of a frontally exposedfbarframe. In addition, my inventicnaims to provide. a guard in which the constituent (generally parallel), bars: may extend at eachendto any desirededistance: beyond the frontal shell openingacrossfwhich1 they effectively extend, and in which each such 101 bar can be cheaply constructed of a U-section from sheet metal withouthaving it presentfunsightly and dirt-admitting ends;

Furthermore, my: invention aims to provide simple means for fastening-such guard bars to th'e'shell front without the use of cross-connect: ing members, and aims to provide guard bars which will readily permitacleaningof the adja front after mud has been elevationlof, one f of a generally straight guard member of the-same type, including the anchoring members mounted in it. i Fig. 5 isfian enlargedsection taken in the .medial longitudinal plane of a straight guard member (as along the line-5,'- -.-5 of Fig. 3) andthrough portions of a panel; to which this member is fas- Fig. 6 is a rear view of thelower partof the Fig. '7 is a' rear perspective view of the upper a part of the guard member of Fig; 6, sh0wingthis' before the anchoring member is mounted in. it;"--

1 Figf8'is a .perspective view of the channelstrip from which the guard member of2Fig .;'5 was formed, with a dottedshowin'g of the approximate line along which an 'end of this channel strip was'cut off before forming this end to the Fig. 9-is a vertical section through a' portion of a radiator shell frontiniwhich the opening is 1 bordered by a rearwardly' offset flange to which .55.?

the end portions of the guard members arefas- Fig. 10 is a fragmentary sectionallied to Fig. 9,

"showing a guard member'having its end pori tionsprojecting beyond the portions fastened to the shell front. l 7

Fig. 11 is an enlarged rear. perspective view of Q the upper end of the guard member of Fig. 10,

pictured in Fig. 11 was formed. r

a .Fig. .13 is a section, allied ito me upper por tion of Fig 5, showingan alternative shaping-of and Fig. 12 isa reduced plan view of the sheet metal blank from which the sheet an end portion of my hollow guard member, and

the fastening of this blade end to apanel front." I a Fig. 14' is a reduced rear perspective :;view ofthe hollow guard end part shown in Fig. 13. g 7 in carrying out'my invention after' theman ner of Figs. 3 to 7, I'firs't form simple metal strips; of suitable uniformwidth to a. U-shaped channel j section, such as that, of Fig. 8, and cuttheselto lengths sufliciently longer than a :proposed hol-x low guard..-member. to allowrfor the forming. of; .t-heclosedend asshowninoFig. 7. Then I shear .ea'ch en'd of such -a'cut1channel strip diagonally from-each side thereofas for. example along the dotted cut line C' in. Fig. '8-'and thereafter deform that end (by dies readily. made by any diemaker)- to a shape suchas that shown in :Fig. 7, 7 namely one in'which the formerlypointed end 'part of the cut channel strip isdeformedto a hollow shape approximatingia quarter of a flattened sphere, and in which-the nee edges 1 of thisend portion are 'parallel to and' ofiset rearwardly' from the surface inwhichedgesfl of the il? P rtions of the channel webs W are di posed' Then I slide into each such hollow end a 'fas f'tening member consisting ofapl'ate 3 (Flg. having a bolt sha-nk 4 extending through-and, Projecting 'fmmit and havingthe, head 5 of the bolt "fastened to the said plate(as by o. brazing The plate 3- desirably of a contourfittin'g the rear end of the saidhollo w en'd partE and desirably also presents its rear'face flush with th'e edges 'l (Fig. '17) andthis plate'is then :fas-

.tened to the said-"hollowend part -as bya braz V 'Thu's} completed} Teach guard member G has a boltshank projectingrearwardly from -it,:jso v thatthe-ends'ofthis guard"member can speedily 1 befastened to a panel P'prov ided with perforations'j 9pfor receiving {the-{bolt shanks, but'nuts N-each screwed {on'one of the boltshanks, de-

l sirably with a loek'washera between the nut'and the face of the panelf'sinceitheneeded perforations in the panel 1= areeasily punched, the'en'tir'e assemblyis speedy'andinexpensive;.

Moreover, the channel strips S can readily be rolled or otherwise formed for curving them to I any desired forwardconvexity (as in Fig; 2) or iconcavity (as in Fig. '9) according to the appear- Q n'ce desired for the guard. The 'guard membiers :G'for a complete guard may extend for va- 7 rious distances-at either end beyojnd the aperture A whioh i's'to be guard'edyas shown in 1.

some 1 of..1theS,-:g'uard members or blades ,may also be disposed laterallyoutside this aperture as also showninthe same fig ure, so as to guard the shell front at each side '-,0f the panel; opening A. 0911- sequently, the contour of 'the-"guard ;as a whole may :be considerably -difierent from that of v the said aper-ture, thereby cooperating with the. for.-

l ward. p oj ct n :o othe u rdrm m s i demetal part 1 webs of the sai spq i tracting a viewers attention both from the contour of the said aperture and from what is b h the apertured panel I I I Moreover, the closed end portions of each g uard I member afford added rigidity for'it'adjacent to its fastenings; and-the U -sectioniof the'major portion :of each guard member stronglynresists, it s heretofore commonly'used grillebladesg form either the guard membera'or thepanel portions to which theyfiare fastened, so as to af ford, aspacing which will more' readily permit 7 any acc umulated mud or the like to-be washed 01T, this-being particularlyadvisable,when-my hollow guard members are fused one-automobiles. Thus,;jitwill be obvious; that-any @lfllld -WhlCh has beensplashed into ;the'-hollow; lowefehde-El ofFig.2 can readily; be washed outlby a stream; ct, water directed into: thespace slimmediately mental appearance, I may make my channels from strips 'having each .end portion thereof blanked a ias i hown in i glztiso Jaeo,

present laterally-opposite projections bbetween i treme the m or pa B 0f. hes n athe.

15 ample by Figs. 13 and 14. ,fHowev'er, 1; preferably above,it-.- ,To facilitate this cleaning stilllmore; and also topresent a som ewhat diiferentorna endportion which is', to be -cut to .apoint i deformed to the shapeshown in Figsl i. .g

B preceed i is m ma: n st iri each needed bolt 4 to areCtangular punching 3 inserted between and brazedto-two adjacent projections 1), Lean readily produce the-former the dotted lines c before that end portion is.

beifiushedthroughthe interior of the entire blade forthe entirejlengthqof the latter. 1

- However, whileI have heretofore invention ilin connection with embodiments Sin;

eluding numerous desirablefdetails ot'construc' tion'and arrangement, I donotwish to helimited I in these respects; since many changes riiight he made i h ,de am ther fromfthe spirit Of my invention ftom the appended j l "I ai myinventio r 1 A guardQbladeof rearw dly open :Usec

tion having 1 a uniform section injitsmajorfportion, both U-websjoi; the blade Jbeing uniformly widened in a relativelyishort of each; }end in a surface -spaced rearwardly from th com-1 monsurface in 'whichthe; rear edges-ohboth; u-.

major portion; of the blade are p 2. A guard member for; allg uard recited, comprising a guard blade; as .per .plaim .1 andtwo anchoring elements, each meuntedf between-the rear edge portions 1 ne. of said relatively short parts or h, blade.- 1

3.;{igrille bladeofrearwardly open.. u s tion closed vat bothiends,and two anchoring ements' respectively mounted within and secured to the fportion vor; the' bl ade [sq-j a to idis'ppsejthe r ar edges of the webs ingthe said short bladeiparts. 7

"two end parts ot the blade, each o fgthe choring elements .having its rearwardflfacejma f common surface with the re'aredges? or, ,blade portions contiguous to that I anchoring element,

my guard member shown n F gSL-lQand ll in 1 which eachanchoring provision is'spaced irom, the adjace'nt hollow end so that'water can readily.

4. As aconstituent for a guard in which parallel blades extend in front of an apertured supporting member and eifectivelyacross the aperture in the said member, a grille blade of rearwardly open U-section closed at both ends and having opposed rearward extensions on both of I 5. A grille blade of rearwardly open U-section having each end portion thereof decreasing in the depth of its U-formation to zero at the end of the blade, the U -webs of the blade being uniform inthe major part of the blade but widened in a relatively short blade portion near one end; of the blade so that these short blade portions present their rear edges farther rearward than the rear edges of the parts of the blade webs between the said short portions; and two fastening elements each mounted between the rear edge parts of the said short blade portions and presenting rear faces flush with the rear edges of the Webs of the short blade portions. I

6. A generally U-sectioned sheet metal grille blade comprising a major portion of uniform and rearwardly open U-section, and two endportions respectively merging into the two ends of the said major portion; each endlportion of the blade decreasing gradually in the depth of its U- formation toward the extreme end of the blade so as to afford a closed end for the blade, and each of the said end portions presenting its rear edge in a surface rearward of the common surface of the rear edges of the U-webs of the parts of the blade between the said end portions.

7. The combination with a radiator shell front having an air-admitting opening, of grille blades the said opening each presenting its two end portions respectively in front of parts of the said shell front at opposite sides of the said opening;

and pairs ofanchoring members respectively associated with the said several blades; each anchoring member comprising a first part housed by and secured to, one of the said end portions of the blade, a stem part extending rearwardly from the aforesaid part through the radiator shell front, and a third part attached to the stem part and bearing against the rear face of the radiator shell fronts.

8. A radiator shell front and grille combina-' tion as per claim 7, in which the said first part of rearwardly open U-section extending across of each of the said anchoring members has its rear face flush with therear edge portions 'of the part of the blade which houses the said first part, r I j 9. The combination with a radiator shell front having an air admitting opening, of parallel said shellfrontso asto space other portions of the rear web edges of the blade forwardly from the shell front; two anchoring elements respectively mounted in the said rearwardly offsetpor tions of its two end parts, and two means-extending through the shell frontfor respectiv ly fastening the said anchoring elements to the v shell front. I

LEE B. GREEN; 

